The NHL announced on Thursday
morning that it was collaborating with venerable comic book legend Stan Lee on "The Guardian Project," in which all
30 teams would be represented by a new superhero. The man who gave us
Spider-Man, the X-Men, and other teenagers with extraordinary powers who had great
responsibility will help create the new characters through his POW!
Entertainment.

Last night at New York Comic Con,
Lee presented "The Guardian Project" in a panel discussion. Puck Buddy Andrew
S. snagged the image above that serves as a teaser, but that also reveals more
than a few of the team-influenced heroes.

Mike Mason was the master of his
imaginary world. A world he filled with the greatest of superheroes. Until the
day that it all became real and they became what the world now needed them to
be... Mike Mason's Guardians. An exclusive sneak peek at Stan Lee's
groundbreaking new superhero franchise with the NHL that is 13 years in the
making! The unprecedented partnership, deemed Guardian Media Entertainment
(GME), takes a cutting-edge approach to animation as all content is being
designed for multiplatform media applications.

Thirteen ... years? The plans for
the project include "comic books, a novel, mobile applications, TV and film"
according to USA Today ... as if there could ever be another cartoon that reaches
the artistic grandeur of the Mighty Ducks cartoon:

Organizers are keeping a lid for now on the powers and
likenesses of The Guardians, with plans to reveal them individually over time
on the enterprise's website (guardianproject30.com)
before presenting them together at January's NHL All-Star game. The teams had a
role in designing heroes to reflect themselves. The Flyers are characterized by
toughness, the Montreal Canadiens by speed and the Toronto Maple Leafs by size
and strength.

The superheroes will work together and separately, although
there will be friction between those representing traditional rivalries, such
as that between the Flyers and the New York Rangers.

So the Leafs Man's superpower isn't the ability to massively
disappoint for decades on end? Lost that bet ...

Here's a look at some of the NHL Guardians:

On the left is the Philadelphia Flyers superhero, and in a
unique twist he can apparently fly. Also flying: The New Jersey Devils
superhero, which we imagine was influenced by the actual Jersey Devil
who made the Pine Barrens famous long before Paulie Walnuts and Christopher
lost that Russian mobster.

Front and center is the Edmonton Oilers superhero (1) who
has a Juggernaut vibe. To the right is the Pittsburgh Penguins (2) character,
and it's good to see G.I. Joe agreed to loan out Snake-Eyes. Also, over Captain Oiler's right shoulder, the Minnesota Wild hero. Scary face!

Finally, Puck Buddy Andy believes that the Ghost Rider/Lobo
type on the bike is the New York Rangers superhero. You can also clearly see
the Calgary Flames character, who's been working out a bit. We imagine the guy with the spear on the right is
Darcy Tucker(notes) in his first post-retirement gig.

"Excelsior!” true believers!

UPDATE: Matt in the comments drops this cool image that helps sort out who is who on the poster. The guy in the middle that we thought was a Sabre? Chicago Blackhawks Man!